A waterside industrial complex built in the early 20th century and known as the “Venice of Szczecin” is set for renovation in what the developer hopes will give a boost to the whole city.
The area, which has stood derelict for years, is to be fully revitalised by 2023, with its industrial buildings transformed into a new headquarters for Wody Polskie (Polish Waters), a state agency.
“We have an ambition to make this place not only the headquarters of Wody Polskie…but also the inland centre of our city’s life,” said Marek Duklanowski, the director of the Szczecin branch of Wody Polskie, quoted by Business Insider.
The “Venice of Szczecin” stands on the waterfront of the West Oder, close to the north-western Polish city’s main railway station. The complex was constructed in the early 1900s, when Szczecin – then known as Stettin – was part of Germany.
It was once home to an alcohol and yeast factory owned by C. Lefevre – a descendant of one of the many thousands of Huguenots, or French Protestants, who settled in the city during the 19th century.
After World War II, the complex housed a vegetable and fruit processing plant and then horticultural companies, but it eventually fell into disrepair. The derelict site has since become a tourist attraction, particularly among canoeists.
In recent years, there have been several proposals to revitalise the area, as part of plans to transform Szczecin into the “Venice of the North” – although these ideas have fallen through due to the cost of renovation.
A few years ago, the property was valued at 675,000 zloty (€151,000), before being transferred to the State Treasury for a symbolic 1 zloty, reports Business Insider.
In 2017, Poland’s Inland Navigation Office unveiled plans to transform part of the building complex into new headquarters, while constructing an additional storey, terrace overlooking the river, car park and pier. Around 30% of the costs of the work was to be financed by EU funds, with the project set to be completed by late 2020.
Krzysztof Woś, director of the local branch of Inland Navigation, told Radio Szczecin at the time that they “could not have dreamed of a better location” for their new headquarters. However, the project was abandoned in 2018 due to high costs.
The public tender to select a contractor for the new project has now been announced and funding secured, with completion expected around the middle of 2023. The final cost is unknown, but will exceed the 17 million zloty estimated for the previous renovation plans, Michał Kaczmarek of Wody Polskie told Business Insider.
Duklanowski also expressed his hopes that the project would revitalise the “neglected” Kolumba Street where the “Venice of Szczecin” lies, which he said “has enormous potential.” The street has not been renovated since the 1980s, reports Super Express.
“Wody Polskie will therefore be one of the pioneers of its revitalisation,” he said, adding that there were also plans to build conference rooms and education facilities related to the sea and shipping as well as to host exhibitions.
Main image credit: Wikimedia/Stasió Stachów (under CC BY 3.0)
Juliette Bretan is a freelance journalist covering Polish and Eastern European current affairs and culture. Her work has featured on the BBC World Service, and in CityMetric, The Independent, Ozy, New Eastern Europe and Culture.pl.
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